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The 7,000 tonne cargo ship that got stuck at Rossaveal harbour in Galway bay on Thursday has been refloated.

The ship, called “The Pantanal”, was due to pick up two small passenger ferries which were sold to a buyer in Mauritius.

Minister for Marine Simon Coveney welcomed the successful refloating of the ship.

He said that “a very real threat to the marine environment” had been avoided.

Mr Coveney said that the ship ignored a severe weather warning and that is why the incident happened.

Do you know how heavy 7,000 tonnes is?

Well… a standard bag of sugar weighs 1 kilogram (Kg) and there is 1,000 kg in 1 tonne. So the cargo ship would be equal to the weight of 7 million bags of sugar!!

 



 

Enda Kenny’s supporters welcomed him home to Mayo as the new Taoiseach on Saturday night.

The Taoiseach flew in from Belgium on a government jet for his homecoming.

They lit bonfires and floated two Chinese lanterns in the night sky in honour of the special occasion.

The new Taoiseach Kenny, his wife Fionnuala, daughter Aoibhinn, 18, and sons Ferdia, 16, and Naoise, 14, were delighted by the display as sparks soared into a darkening sky almost on their doorstep.

Mr Kenny told his neighbours that his family had no intention of leaving Castlebar,Mayo. “We’re staying put,” he said.

Then, referring to the 24-hour garda security which will be around his home from now onwards, Mr Kenny joked: “The members of the blue brigade on the road will see you are all well protected from now onwards -so get your driving licences and insurance.”

Mr Kenny spent yesterday with his family and went to visit his mother Eithne, 92, who is resident in a local nursing home.

Afterwards, Mr Kenny said his mother had been delighted to watch Wednesday’s Leinster House proceedings on television.

“Her mind is very intact,” he said. “She is fully with us in that sense.”

Mr Kenny, who will fly out to Washington for St Patrick’s Day celebrations later in the week, said he hoped American President Barack Obama would visit Ireland this year.

The line-up for this year’s Electric Picnic music festival in Stradbally, Co Laois has been announced.

It will take place from September 2nd to 4^th and will feature bands such as Arcade Fire, Pulp, the Chemical Brothers, Interpol and a whole host of unknown Irish and international groups.

Arcade Fire said they are “very excited about coming back.”

The good news is that the Electric Picnic isn’t just for grown-ups, kids can get a bite from the Picnic too!

The festival music director said “the Picnic is not just about music. What marks it out is the quality of the whole event, the diversity of experiences, the environment, the art, the food, the whole experience.”

The festival also features a comedy tent, theatre, a Spoken Word area with poetry, debate and discussion, entertainment for children, small venues such as the Salty Dog Saloon, a variety of food stalls and farmers’ market.

Weekend tickets are priced at €240 with one-day tickets for the Sunday available for €99.50. Family camping tickets for two adults and children cost €480.

There is a €60 fee for a campervan.

 

 

Fine Gael have promised that Irish forestry company Coillte will not be sold off.

Speaking yesterday, Fine Gael TD Andrew Doyle said “Fine Gael has no intention to sell Coillte.”

Instead, the Government want to join Coillte and Bord na Mona together to create a new bio-energy company.

Coillte has one million acres of forest in Ireland and many people have spoken out against proposals to sell it including singer Glen Hansard from the band ‘The Frames’.

A Facebook page has also been set up, called “The Irish peoples’ forests are not for sale”, as part of the campaign to save our forests.

Under the new programme for ‘national government’ Fine Gael and Labour will make a new economic group to change the terms of the loan given to Irish banks by the European Union.

Labour’s Brendan Howlin said “We have to repair broken bridges across our European partners, to build up an understanding of our position.”

He added “It’s in everybody’s interests, not only the national interest of Ireland, but in Europe’s interest and in the interest of maintaining the euro, that we have a path that is sustainable out of the economic hole that we find ourselves in now.”

It also calls for the Department of Finance to be split in two.

The new Minister for Finance would look after budgets and taxes. A minister for estimates and public service reform would supervise spending.

Both these Ministers and two others, one from each party, would form an economic council.

The council would not be answerable to the Taoiseach and would have supreme power over the country’s economic direction.

Fine Gael’s Phil Hogan said there would be no income tax rises under the partnership.

The parties will make no changes to this year’s Budget and they will make further €3 billion in cuts and savings next year.

They would then review cost-cutting measures in 2012.

Some 18,000 to 21,000 voluntary redundancies will be sought in the public sector* in the next two years with a further 5,000 to follow after that.

There would be no changes to children’s allowance or social welfare payments. A new and fairer funding scheme for third level education will be introduced.

They will reverse cuts in the minimum wage and abolish the travel tax on air fares.

There would be a minimum 30 per cent income tax rate for very high earners.

They plan to introduce a new universal health insurance system, making it compulsory for everyone to be insured.

The coalition will hold a referendum to abolish the Seanad.

They will also reduce the number of TDs, cut their salaries, expenses and pensions.

The plan calls for the Dáil to sit four days a week – instead of the present three – and a reduction in holidays.

Glossary

The Dáil=the House of Representatives

The Seanad=the Senate

Public sector=the part of the economy who provide basic govermment services e.g teachers and the Gardai